Featuring the impressive club juggling of Jeremiah Johnston! And today’s his birthday! Happy Birthday Jer! Jeremiah Johnston is a California man raised in the rural Sierra Nevadas. He spent his early adult years amidst the coastal redwoods at Humboldt State University where he developed the juggling skills that would lay the foundation for his career in entertainment. The juggling arts …
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The Veko’s
(Haz clic aquí para español.) The Veko’s was a group of jugglers from the Netherlands. They started as an artist duo consisting of Jan Van der Veken, known as “John Vekos,” and his wife, Jeanne Van der Veken. As a child, Jan Van der Veken was very restless. He did acrobatics and could stand on his hands. He was a …
More Juggling Statues and Sculptures
As I stated in the previous article on juggling statues and sculptures, juggling can be difficult to portray in sculpture, as the props obviously must be connected to the juggler in some manner. Nevertheless, jugglers and juggling have been a popular subject of sculptures for a long time. Let’s take a look at some more public statues as well as …
Juggling for the dictator
(Haz clic aquí para español.) After the end of World War I, many jugglers had to leave their place of residence to seek better opportunities. The circus was injured, and went through a restructuring process. In 1919, Russia nationalized the circus and the vast majority of artists fled the country. Other circuses were looking for innovative shows for their tours. …
The IJA Sammie Vance Youth Civic Achievement Award
Tis the season of giving and the IJA teaming up with Sammie Vance and her Buddy Bench project have done just that! A buddy bench now sits at the Boys and Girls Club Fort Wayne, IN that was made possible through teamwork and friendship! This buddy bench is made out of 200 lbs of recycled plastic bottle caps and lids. …
Joe Taylor Obituary
(Author’s note: Much thanks to Scott Cain for the use of a great deal of the research and writing on Joe Taylor that he had previously done.) We are sad to announce that the first person of color to join the IJA, Joe Taylor, passed away on December 20th, 2019. Joe had a successful career as a performer in the …
Rudy Cardenas Obituary
It is with great sadness that we report that legendary juggler Rudy Cardenas passed away on December 16th, 2019. Rudy Cardenas was one of the brightest juggling stars of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The incredible Mexican juggler was born March 19th, 1926 and started his performing career around 1929. By the age of seven he could perform 5 balls …
Some pictures of the Five Aberts
(Haz clic aquí para español.) After reading the wonderful article by David Cain about the Soviet juggler Edward Abert, founder of the Soviet group called Five Aberts, I wanted to publish some photographs about the artistic journey of the Albert family. The photos show Edward Abert when he was young; to his brother, Igor Abert; To his father, Boris Abert; …
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Howard Nichols – Master of Hoop Rolling
Even though William Everhart invented hoop rolling and juggling, Howard Nichols took the skill to another level. Born in 1894 in Ashland, Kentucky (USA), Howard started out performing as part of his family’s juggling group, the Nichols-Nelson Troupe. The group specialized in hoops and diabolos, and often performed on riverboats on the Ohio River at first, before expanding their reach …